Leader or splicing tape is utilized in the field of editing audio, video tape, or film. The leader tape is used as a lead segment connected to a tape in order to lead the tape through the various paths required in a reproduction unit, or to be used as a spacer in a length of tape.
Presently, leader tape is supplied in reels, and a reel of leader tape is merely mounted loosely to the side of a recording machine without any provision for preventing the leader tape from unravelling when in use or not. Adhesive tape must also be kept on hand for the purposes of splicing the leader tape to the audio or other tape.
The leader tape, when taken from an open reel, must change direction and plane from a path tangent to the reel towards the editing area where it is to be spliced. This changing of direction can cause the leader tape to fold, thereby damaging it.
In the present specification, the term "tape" means film, audio tape, video tape, as well as other types of tapes with which a leader tape might be considered useful. The term "leader tape" also includes splicing or blank tape useful in a splicing operation.